Manifestation
by CelestialSands
Summary: Guilt. The ultimate weapon.   Never underestimate the power of Guilt.  A one-shot about Minerva contracting a psychosis.


A/N: This is a VERY abstract fic. It just hit me out of the blue. Enjoy!

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><p><strong>Manifestation<strong>

_**A one shot.**_

_Guilt. _

_It weighs on one's soul, and makes the Scales swing when the heart is placed on one sides. To weight a heart against a feather- surely, that is unfair? Some will argue not, as the heart is supposed to be as light as a feather if its user did not sin._

_Still, nothing carries as much weigh as guilt._

_It penetrates your mind and whispers into your ears- malicious whispers, relentlessly brandishing the deadliest weapon unknown to mankind. _

_That weapon, is, of course, guilt, for it attacks the most vulnerable part of a person- the conscience._

_Nothing is worth more than one's conscience, yet nothing is worth less. It's one of those things that don't have a price- it's value is deemed by its user. _

_Some people, who plot and scheme too much for their own good, try to squash it down. This is akin to destroying their humanity, because the conscience is, of course, the core of humanity. What is humanity? By my terms, it is compassion, it is empathy, it is the ability to judge good and evil. One day, their humanity will vanish with their conscience, turning them into unfeeling monsters. These monsters will howl to the moon, begging the celestial body to return to them what they have sacrificed._

Minerva shut her eyes.

_Shut me out, my dearest friend. Just try. I'm the thing which you deem worthless. I'm the thing which sabotages everything. I'm your conscience, my dearest Minerva. I'm the truth, I'm the world, and-_

"I am you."

This isn't the first. It may not be the last. The girl's blonde hair lay sprawled over the pillow, glinting ever so slightly in the stream of moonlight from the window. Her forehead is beaded with sweat. One, two, three,_ four_...

_You find my relentless drone maddening, painful, even. I know the answer to your question, why? I have repeated it so many times! The reason why you hate me, the reason why it hurts, is because-_

"This is all true."

What is happening? Father, Beau, the Chateau, school... Everything was a swirl of reality, something that she can no longer reach. She felt like she was reaching out to Andromeda- So vast, so far away, and so unattainable. Truth had erected an invisble wall, barring her from escaping this nightmare, from escaping all of this. All that was left was a small dark space, cordoned off from the rest of the world.

Minerva is trapped.

Truth whispers some more...

_Feeling guilty?_

_Your heart weights more than the bricks that built your home. Much, much more. You are being punished for everything you did, for every aspiration, for everything your pride had caused you to ignore. _

_I'm getting my revenge, because this is the last time you will ever ignore your conscience._

This dark little fantasy had become more than a nightmare.

At first, the truth had only visited her, in her dreams. It told of things impossible, of tolls that had to be paid, and of great opportunities that arose.

Minerva dwelt on these dreams. The promises of something beyond her ordinary life as a spoiled billionaire's genius daughter.

Then... the dreams really began.

_That's right, my dear Minnie! _

_I enjoyed sneaking into your thoughts, infiltrating your mind, filling it to the brim with guilt, guilt, and more guilt. For a genius, you really are dim. _

_Don't you realise that-_

"... I'm trying to create a better you? Of course not. You're poisoning my mind and corrupting my soul. I've never felt less like myself."

_Think, my dear favourite genius? Don't you see that this IS yourself?_

"I've got more dignity than that!"

_Go away, go away._ Minerva hoped that someone could do something about the evil seed that had taken root deep within.

_Do you, Minerva? Well?_

"That's four words." The dread that accompanied that statement was truly chilling.

_Then my work is done. I've infected someone even more brilliant that you. Your friend Artemis. He put up quite the fight, but I got through in the end. _

_Your nightmare hasn't ended. It had just started._

"You're lying." The sweat drenched the bedclothes.

_My true name, Minerva, is Guilt. Please remember that. Please refrain from calling me the Atlantis Complex, that horrendous name the People had created. I __**hate **__that name._

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><p>So? What do you guys think?<p> 


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